With the departure of star players like Cameron Keith, Justin Leskow and Darren McAllister, Binghamton University head coach Paul Marco’s aim this preseason was to reload and educate his new players in the ways of the Bearcat. In their training, they were taught to be both the athlete and the student and were challenged physically and mentally to be the best. Now the men’s soccer squad is locked and loaded for what hopes to be another phenomenal season.
“We have a world-class standard,” Marco said. “The goal here is to have these guys meet it and have them take it one game at a time. Our expectations every [season] remain pretty much the same.”
Marco kicks off his eighth season as the head coach for the Bearcats. Under his leadership, the team has grown into one of the most successful programs in the school and in the conference. In his time at Binghamton, Marco helped the Bearcats clinch two America East Conference titles and two AE regular season titles. In addition, his squad holds a conference record of six consecutive appearances in the America East championship game from 2003 to the present.
“Each year presents itself with new challenges,” he said. “This year is a little different from normal in that we graduated a very large group of players. I think, if anything, the bar has been raised a little bit higher.”
The Bearcats will be back this year with seven starters and 13 letterwinners from last season. Although many of the veterans have departed, there are still, as Marco calls them, “the four warriors:” senior backs Kyle Kucharski and Liam Carson, midfielder Chris Terry and goalkeeper Jason Stenta.
“I think that they have already done a fantastic job in getting the new guys acquainted with [our program],” Marco said. “They really pull the team together and show great leadership.”
Stenta ranked third in the nation among Division I schools last season with a .893 save percentage and came in 10th place with a 0.55 goals against average. He also recorded 11 shutouts. Kucharski ranked second on the team with four assists while Carson scored in each of the first two matches before suffering a season-ending injury. All four players were named to the America East honor roll last season.
Another key player on the squad is sophomore Andy Tiedt, who ranked third on the team last season with two goals and three assists and was named to the America East Conference All-Rookie team along with sophomore Ryan Walter.
Marco also pointed to juniors Scott Zobre and Kyle Manscuk as great assets to the Bearcats. Zobre ranked fourth on the team in goals last season while Manscuk was named to the America East fall academic squad and was named second-team America East All-Conference.
This season brings in a fresh batch of players and the challenge for Marco in this stage will be to show them the ropes and bring them together as a team.
“It’s a talented group,” he said. “They’ve shown that they’re quite good with the ball. Some of them [however] didn’t understand the physical demands of the game and it’s taken them some time to adjust. Still I think we are well on our way to a great season.”
Marco explained how every year is different and the most important thing to do right now is find common ground with all of the players. He also explained how every season is part of a cycle.
“Everyone should understand what their role is,” he said. “The results kind of take care of themselves. The first piece is to find some common ground with the guys and prep to speed of what’s expected of a Bearcat. Guys take different roles than they did last year. Players who were on the bench last season get out on the field more often this season; players who did well last season become leaders to the new guys coming in and so on.”
The Bearcats will get the chance this season to play some formidable and big-name teams, including Villanova and University of California Davis.
“Part of it is that we have a conference requirement,” Marco said when asked about the tough schedule. “In this way it fulfills our responsibility in the conference. Another reason is that we want to have an at-large bid.”
The real test for the Bearcats, however, begins when the conference season starts. The AE teams are looking stronger than ever, but the team is not worried.
“We take it one game at a time,” said Marco. “All of our matches are preparing us for the next match. It’s going to be a real tight year in the conference.”
In the America East, Boston University is the team to beat. The Terriers defeated the Bearcats last season in the conference finals and were unanimously selected in the preseason poll to defend the America East title this year.
“[Boston] is well-experienced and very good in every position,” Marco said. “We are going to have to work hard to defeat them.”
The team wants nothing more than to go in and win these games.
“If we have to win a lot of low-scoring games, that is fine with me,” said Stenta. “A win is a win. Two years ago, we won our first five games 1-0. We are used to defending late in the game. Our defenders do a great job at eliminating shots.”
As they strap on their cleats and shin guards for the home opener against Syracuse University tomorrow, the Bearcats hope to work as a team.
“Our biggest challenge this year is going to be putting all of the pieces together,” said Marco. “When you have a lot of new players, sometimes the challenge is getting the same effort and intensity from all of those new players every day.”